AFC Notes: DeAndre Hopkins, Jerry Jeudy, Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals 

Bengals G Cordell Volson recently agreed to a pay cut with Cincinnati this offseason. Volson admits he took the matter “a little personal,” but is focused on proving himself this offseason. 

“My agent and I talked about it being a possibility,” said Volson, via Jay Morrisson of Sports Illustrated. “I think deep down you take everything a little personal, but at the same time I’m gonna show up every day and I’m gonna compete my tail off to be the best and to be the guy at that spot.”

Volson said they were able to find common ground on his reworked contract with the Bengals.

“We talked about the scenario and what the offer was and the way we felt, and we went back to them with what we thought was fair,” Volson said. “I think we came to a mutual agreement that fits both of us.”

Volson mentioned that entering the final year of his contract won’t change his day-to-day approach. 

“Every year is a big year because every year you’re fighting for your spot. Every year you know they’re looking for someone new no matter where you’re at. At the end of the day, it is a contract year. But I don’t think that changes the way I approach my day-to-day work. I’m gonna show the staff that I’m a reliable, consistent player that shows up every single day and works extremely hard and comes with the right mindset and is always looking to improve and make everyone else around him improve as well.”

Browns

Browns WR Jerry Jeudy had his best professional season during his first year in Cleveland and doesn’t mind the quarterback competition, which he sees as helping everyone get better.

“I like it because that’s just making each quarterback get better, competing against each other, really drive them to be the best version of themselves,” Jeudy said in his Wednesday press conference. “So, you always want that as a quarterback, or four quarterbacks. It’s pretty difficult because you want to always build that relationship with a quarterback and have that consistency throughout the years. But as a receiver going through that, you’ve just got to keep working and learn how to adjust no matter what. Some situations aren’t going to go as planned, so you’ve just got to figure out how to keep going and stay on the right path.”

“They’re working hard,” Jeudy added regarding third-round QB Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round QB Shedeur Sanders. “They’re competing very well — very smart, athletic quarterbacks that know the game of football, know how to play the position really well. Very smart. I’m excited. They’ve got a bright future ahead of them.”

Ravens

Ravens HC John Harbaugh had high praise for WR DeAndre Hopkins when asked about the veteran receiver by reporters this week.

“First of all, I think he’s a heck of a football player,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s website. “Obviously, you saw him today. He’s a gifted guy. He’s a talented guy. He’s going to be a big-body, contested-catch receiver for us, certainly. He’s moving great. Plus, he brings all that experience. He’s been in big games before. He’s made plays in the big games. He knows how to make plays. There’s not going to be any situation that’s going to be too big for him, but I just thought he and Lamar looked really good today out there together. It was nice to see.”